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  • Papaver somniferum L. Papaveraceae Opium Poppy Distribution: Asia minor, but has been dated to 5000BC in Spanish caves. Now grows almost everywhere. The oldest medicine in continuous use, described in the Ebers' papyrus (1550 BC), called Meconium, Laudanum, Paregoric and syrup of poppies. Culpeper (1650) on Meconium '...the juyce of English Poppies boyled till it be thick' and 'I am of the opinion that Opium is nothing else but the juyce of poppies growing in hotter countries, for such Opium as Authors talk of comes from Utopia [he means an imaginary land, I suspect]’. He cautions 'Syrups of Poppies provoke sleep, but in that I desire they may be used with a great deal of caution and wariness...' and warns in particular about giving syrup of poppies to children to get them to sleep. The alkaloids in the sap include: Morphine 12% - affects ?-opioid receptors in the brain and causes happiness, sleepiness, pain relief, suppresses cough and causes constipation. Codeine 3% – mild opiate actions – converted to morphine in the body. Papaverine, relaxes smooth muscle spasm in arteries of heart and brain, and also for intestinal spasm, migraine and erectile dysfunction. Not analgesic. Thebaine mildly analgesic, stimulatory, is made into oxycodone and oxymorphone which are analgesics, and naloxone for treatment of opiate overdose – ?-opioid receptor competitive antagonist – it displaces morphine from ?-opioid receptors, and reverses the constipation caused by opiates. Protopine – analgesic, antihistamine so relieves pain of inflammation. Noscapine – anti-tussive (anti-cough). In 2006 the world production of opium was 6,610 metric tons, in 1906 it was over 30,000 tons when 25% of Chinese males were regular users. The Opium wars of the end of the 19th century were caused by Britain selling huge quantities of Opium to China to restore the balance of payments deficit. Laudanum: 10mg of morphine (as opium) per ml. Paregoric: camphorated opium tincture. 0.4mg morphine per ml. Gee’s Linctus: up to 60 mg in a bottle. J Collis Browne’s chlorodyne: cannabis, morphine, alcohol etc. Kaolin and Morph. - up to 60 mg in a bottle. Dover’s Powders – contained Ipecacuana and morphine. Heroin is made from morphine, but converted back into morphine in the body (Oakeley, 2012). One gram of poppy seeds contains 0.250mgm of morphine, and while one poppy seed bagel will make a urine test positive for morphine for a week, one would need 30-40 bagels to have any discernible effect. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Cichorium intybus L., Asteraceae. Chicory, succory. Distribution: Uses: 'Cichory, (or Succory as the vulgar call it) cools and strengthens the liver: so doth Endive' (Culpeper, 1650). The Cichorium sylvestre, Wilde Succorie, of Gerard (1633) and the leaves cooked into a soup for ill people. Linnaeus (1782) reported it was used for Melancholia, Hypochondria, Hectica [fever], haemorrhage and gout. Root contains 20% inulin, a sweetening agent. Dried, roasted and ground up the roots are used as a coffee substitute, best known as Camp coffee (Chicory and Coffee essence). This used to be sold in tall square section bottle with a label showing a circa 1885 army tent with a Sikh soldier standing and serving coffee to a seated officer from the Gordon Highlanders. The bottle on the label has now moved on, and since 2006 it shows the same tent but the Sikh and the Scot are now both seated, drinking Camp coffee together. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • A strange looking man stiring a bowl. Coloured lithograph.
  • An apothecary in his shop. Wood engraving.
  • A sick child grimaces as he takes his medication and gruel. Line engraving by W. Holl, 1838, after W.H. Hunt.
  • A sick man in bed, attended by a physician, and surrounded by members of his family weeping and praying. Mezzotint by J.J. Haid after J.P. Haid, 17--.
  • A hypochondriac at home with his anxious nurse. Wood engraving.
  • A grimacing invalid seated before a bowl having received an emetic, another man clasps his head compassionately. Etching by J. Gillray, 1804, after J. Sneyd.
  • A man standing by a fire place, pulling a peculiar face after taking some medicine. Coloured etching by J. Gillray, 1800.
  • A man standing by a fire place, pulling a peculiar face after taking some medicine. Coloured etching by J. Gillray, 1800.
  • A man standing by a fire place, pulling a peculiar face after taking some medicine. Coloured lithograph after J. Gillray.
  • A grimacing invalid seated before a bowl having received an emetic, another man clasps his head compassionately. Coloured etching by J. Gillray, 1804, after J. Sneyd.
  • A man standing by a fireplace, pulling a peculiar face after taking some medicine. Coloured etching after J. Gillray.
  • A grimacing invalid seated before a bowl having received an emetic, another man clasps his head compassionately. Coloured etching after J. Gillray after J. Sneyd.
  • A man standing by a fireplace, pulling a peculiar face after taking some medicine. Coloured etching after J. Gillray.
  • A man standing by a fire place, pulling a peculiar face after taking some medicine. Coloured etching by J. Gillray, 1800.
  • A grimacing invalid seated before a bowl having received an emetic, another man clasps his head compassionately. Coloured etching after J. Gillray after J. Sneyd.
  • A grimacing invalid seated before a bowl having received an emetic, another man clasps his head compassionately. Coloured etching after J. Gillray after J. Sneyd.
  • A man standing by a fireplace, pulling a peculiar face after taking some medicine. Coloured etching after J. Gillray.
  • A grimacing invalid seated before a bowl having received an emetic, another man clasps his head compassionately. Coloured etching after J. Gillray after J. Sneyd.
  • A man standing by a fireplace, pulling a peculiar face after taking some medicine. Coloured etching after J. Gillray.
  • A grimacing invalid seated before a bowl having received an emetic, another man clasps his head compassionately. Coloured etching by J. Gillray, 1804, after J. Sneyd.
  • A man standing by a fire place, pulling a peculiar face after taking some medicine. Coloured etching by J. Gillray, 1800.
  • A man standing by a fireplace, pulling a peculiar face after taking some medicine. Coloured etching after J. Gillray.
  • A grimacing invalid seated before a bowl having received an emetic, another man clasps his head compassionately. Coloured etching by J. Gillray, 1804, after J. Sneyd.
  • A man standing by a fireplace, pulling a peculiar face after taking some medicine. Coloured etching after J. Gillray.
  • A man composed of pharmaceutical equipment wandering the countryside; representing an apothecary as if he were an itinerant. Coloured lithograph.
  • A man composed of pharmaceutical equipment wandering the countryside; representing an apothecary as if he were an itinerant. Coloured lithograph.
  • A man composed of pharmaceutical equipment wandering the countryside; representing an apothecary as if he were an itinerant. Coloured lithograph.
  • A man comprised of pharmaceutical equipment. Coloured lithograph, 1830.